Fisticuffs
by Harkpad
Summary: Ianto and Owen fistfight in the basement of the Hub after an alien gets too close to Tosh and Jack thanks to Owen's bad attitude. At least that's why the two men think they're fighting.


**A/N: Playing around with one-shots this week. I have realized it's amazing how Ianto works so well with all the other characters on so many levels. Thought it might be fun to try and write a fight scene, too. If I mucked it up and made it confusing, let me know. **

Jack leaned back as far as he could go in his chair while still having a view of the CCTV monitor on his desk, trying to keep his head still. An hour ago he had revived from having his throat gauged out and that left him exhausted and lethargic on top of the typical headache that came from any death. He'd only had his throat cut a few times in his extended life, but, well, one tends to remember having their throat slit, so he knew he should stay still and rest, which would be better accomplished in a bed, but the events coming through on his CCTV monitor were much more interesting than lying in bed alone.

**Owen's fist connected with Ianto's jaw and pain exploded up Ianto's face, feeding the anger that had been burning there since Owen first called him Tea-Boy. His fury propelled his own fist into Owen's midsection, sending Owen, doubled over, toward the dirty stone floor of the hallway outside the incinerator where they had just deposited the dead Ingarian after the night's Rift alert. Owen rose up, though, and hurtled his shoulder into Ianto's chest, slamming him against the cold stone wall of the hallway. Owen's forearm slid up to Ianto's throat to pin him to the wall. "You've been ignoring me the whole time," Owen growled, "as if you were the one punishing me for what I did." **

_They had been distracted by the Weevil, but Jack knew that it was just a decoy itself for the nastier Ingarian waiting in the shadows of the park, waiting with its claws and powerful jaw to clamp down on some sort of prey. He ordered the team to ignore the Weevil as long as it was just wandering, and to circle the area of the park they knew was hiding the Ingarian. Owen ignored the order. _

"**I **_**would**_** punish you, Owen, if it were my place to do so! You're an idiot and you nearly got Tosh killed!" He seethed back as he thrust his knee into Owen's groin so he could throw off the grip on his own throat. "And you did get Jack killed, you bastard!" Owen doubled over again, and this time Ianto shoved him to the ground and hit him again.**

_The Ingarian rounded on Tosh, but Owen, who should have been close by to help, was trying to single-handedly take down the Weevil, and Ianto couldn't get to Tosh fast enough to deflect the swipe of the Ingarian's claws across her mid-section. She crumpled to the ground and Jack threw himself toward the alien, firing his stun-gun in the best shot he could take, but it wasn't enough. The Ingarian scraped his claw across Jack's throat and he crumpled, too; when Gwen and Ianto converged their fire it was finally enough to bring the alien down. _

**Owen swiped with his leg and tangled Ianto enough to pull him to the floor, and Owen rolled on top and thrashed at Ianto's face wildly. Blood was seeping down Owen's cheek and his lip was swollen and bleeding, and he pounded his fist into Ianto's face and broke his nose with a crack. The noise stopped them both for a moment, and the pain and blood caused Ianto to curl in upon himself for a moment, before unfurling and rising against Owen with a roar of unspent fury. They wrestled across the floor of the hall, rolling into the opposite wall and grappling with each other in desperate anger. **

_Gwen rushed to Tosh and rolled her over, calling for Owen, who had lost the Weevil in the night shadows. Tosh was bleeding from the abdomen and Ianto rushed over and threw his coat across her shoulders and put his hands to her stomach to try and staunch the blood flow. Owen rushed up and took over, ordering Gwen to bring the SUV around, and the three of them loaded Tosh into the car. Gwen sent Ianto back to sit with Jack, who had bled out quickly, and to watch over him and the body of the alien until they could get back with the SUV to clean up. Owen thought he could handle Tosh at the Hub, and as it turned out her injury looked worse than it was, and he stitched her up and dosed her with some painkillers while Gwen went back to the site for Jack, Ianto, and the alien. _

**Ianto, ignoring the pain from his broken nose, pulled Owen's arm behind his back and twisted up harshly, eliciting a shout from Owen. He held him there and pinned him against the wall. Owen slurred through his swollen mouth, "Jack's fine, you fucker. He'll be back to looking for your arse as soon as you clean up, and then you can have the sex you're wishing for." **

Upstairs in Jack's office, Tosh had come in to see how Jack was doing as her own painkillers kicked in. He looked pale and drawn to her, but he was intent on the monitor on his desk, so Tosh asked, "What are you watching?"

"Ianto and Owen are fighting," he replied.

"Over what?" Tosh asked.

"You and me."

Tosh raised here eyebrows and sat on the edge of the desk to see the monitor. She saw Ianto pinning Owen against the wall, blood flowing down both of their faces and anger flaring hot out of both of their eyes.

"Should we go stop them?" She asked softly.

"No."

"Why not?"

"They both need this," he declared. "They'll be all right," he added, and then said softly, "although I don't think they're fighting about what they think they're fighting about."

**Ianto twisted Owen's arm some more, but Owen lithely writhed out of his grip and pulled back to punch him in the ribs. They wrestled now, Ianto having the advantage with his size, and after a few moments Ianto pinned Owen to the floor and leaned in close to his face. "If you ever put Tosh in danger because you can't be bothered to listen to anyone else, I'll make sure your work here becomes very, very difficult." He pulled back as if he was going to hit Owen one last time, but then he stood up and said, "And it's not sex I have to wish for with Jack, Owen," and he turned and walked away. Owen spoke quietly after him, thinking Ianto was out of earshot, "I wish for that, too." Ianto heard him, spun around, and was very suddenly in Owen's face. "He gives that to you in the way you need it every day, Owen. You're just too bitter to notice. Tosh gives it to you, too. Maybe one day you'll actually open your eyes around here and see it." Then Ianto turned again and did leave.**

There was no audio on the CCTV, but Jack and Tosh watched as Ianto's words sunk in with Owen, and he dropped his head back to the floor and closed his eyes. He stayed there for a long time, until Tosh went down after helping Ianto clean up and took Owen a wet towel and some ice.


End file.
